Israel’s Treatment Of Palestinian Prisoners

That this House condemns the imprisonment of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas, but is appalled by the cruel and inhumane treatment suffered by the 7,000 Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons, involving denial of medicines and basic healthcare, denial of education and reading materials, refusal of family visits, excessive fines, repeated night searches of cells and the long-term isolation of elected members of the Palestinian legislative council; believes that Israel’s practice of holding Palestinians for unspecified periods of time without charge, including children, journalists and 21 Palestinian MPs is unacceptable; further believes that all this amounts to the collective punishment of Palestinian prisoners for the imprisonment of soldier Shalit; and calls on the Government to increase pressure on Israel to end its immoral and uncivilised treatment of prisoners.